Where Are The Video Jobs?

Posted June 27, 2019

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Yesteday, I posted an Instagram video in which I said, "I can change your life."

This was my Tony Robbins approach.

But it's true.

Embrace the right new technology and application and you can change your life.

Just ask the people who went to work for recent Harvard drop out Bill Gates in 1975.

New technology, but most importantly, new applications and new opportunities.

MIcrosoft was small.  IBM was a giant. But IBM was opening the door to personal computers and needed software.

A marriage made in heaven.

For Gates, at least, and the people who signed on early.

Anyway...

Yesterday, Michael Weschler, a long time VJ member noted on the Instagram comments, what jobs?

So here's my answer.

IF you have the skills to shoot and edit and produce your own video, on your own, and you can make good stuff... There is a whole new world of potential clients.

When I started in this business, it was all about making TV shows, mostly for cable. That market is still there, but it is limited and very competitive.

The arrival of broadband opened video to the web, and that meant lots more 'channels' (ie, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc..) but those are very high end.  Game Of Thrones was produced for a mind boggling $15m per episode.

They are not buying your stuff shot and cut on a phone - at least not yet.

However.. there is a massive and exploding market for your video work somewhere else.

I recently read about a major department store chain in the UK that is in trouble.  If you follow my work, you know that I try to write 100 pitch letters a month. Clearly this was worth writing to. So I did.

The CEO of the company said that their biggest problem was in feeding social media with video. They had contracted with a major ad agency, and they were producing very slick videos - very high production value, that they were then putting on Instagram and FB and Twitter. 

They were paying up to £20,000 for the videos, and while they were very slick - shot on Reds no doubt, they were also disappearing after a day or two. Such is the nature of social media.

What they needed was lots of video for social media, but produced cheaply and continually.

Here, I thought, is an entirely new market for those who can make video - good video- cheaply and quickly on a phone.

They were interested.  And so are a lot of other companies.

I immediately cranked out a few more letters to other companies - a yacht manufacturer, a restaurant chain... 

They were also interested.

This does not mean that every business is going to hire you to make videos for social media, but how many do you need?

Pick something you know and love - cause you are going to be spending a lot of time with them - and also pick someting close to you - because you are going to be spending a lot of time there.

Then, start writing to the CEOs.

It should work.

So far, so good.